World Snooker Championship 2025: Shaun Murphy Fires Warning After Tapping Back into Champion Mindset

Reigning Masters champion Shaun Murphy made an emphatic start to his 2025 World Snooker Championship campaign, cruising to a 10-4 win over Welsh debutant Daniel Wells with a trio of sublime century breaks.

The Magician lived up to his nickname at the Crucible Theatre, producing clear-cut snooker across both sessions to outclass Wells. But the Welshman didn’t leave Sheffield empty-headed. He matched Murphy’s three centuries and showcased his own magic, offering a glimpse of why his journey to this stage has captured attention.

Practise Makes Perfect? 

Post-match, both players were full of admiration for each other and even hinted at plans to practise together next season.

“I’d love to practise with Shaun [Murphy] if he’d have me,” Wells said. 

“I need to get used to playing at that standard. He seems to bring out his best against me. He hit a 145, and 147 against me in Wales a few years ago. It’s intimidating to play against someone like him, when he’s at his best.”

Murphy, ever the showman, responded to the practice request in typically playful fashion: “He’d be very welcome. I’m very fond of him. I know him very well. He’d be very welcome to come and pick some balls out anytime he wants.”

From Toilets to the Theatre

Wells' path to the Crucible has been far from conventional — a rise that started just a few years ago while working as a cleaner alongside his mother.

“Three years ago, I was cleaning toilets with my mum,” he reflected. 

That journey made his debut at snooker’s most iconic venue all the more poignant — and despite the result, Wells left the stage with pride intact and eyes firmly on the future.

Praise for the Debutant Generation

The 2005 world champion was keen to give credit where it was due, insisting Wells made things far tougher than the scoreline might suggest.

“I think on another day, with a bit more experience under his belt, he might have won that match or beaten somebody else. It was a fabulous debut,” said Murphy. 

“I remember when making your debut here [Crucible] was hard. I think we might be seeing the best batch of debutants we’ve ever seen.”

That may not be an overstatement. Zak Surety, the tournament’s lowest-ranked player, also delivered a stellar debut, notching four century breaks — a feat never before achieved by a debutant — though he ultimately fell 10-7 to Ding Junhui. 

Meanwhile, Chinese rising star Lei Peifan stunned defending champion Kyren Wilson in a dramatic tournament opener.

Murphy’s Mindset Makeover

Murphy now turns his focus to a potential second-round clash with world number one Judd Trump — if he comes through his tie against Zhou Yuelong. 

Confidence is clearly coursing through Murphy’s game once again after a renaissance season, sparked by his Masters triumph and reinvigorated by his partnership with coach and 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon.

“The hunger and desire never goes anywhere,” Murphy said. 

“I'm still trying, but you know, you think sometimes you can just lose your way in life and sport or whatever it might be.”

“Certainly, working with Peter has helped me refocus on the things that make the difference. Champions don't think like everyone else. And I think for a little while I'd started thinking like everyone else.”

“I'd sort of forgotten what it felt like to win the big ones. I'd become a bit of a draw filler in the majors.”

“But as far as the big tournaments were concerned, I thought those days were gone. Winning the Masters — the work I've done with Peter has totally changed that. I've had a complete 180.”

“Whether it works this week or not, I don't know, but I now believe again, and I think that makes me dangerous.”

“A Handful for Anybody” 

Now two decades on from his unforgettable 2005 triumph and a decade since his final run in 2015, Murphy believes he’s never been better prepared for a Crucible campaign.

“It's 20 years since I won the championship. It's 10 years since I got to the final against Stuart [Bingham]."

“What I do know is that I've come here this year in the best shape I've ever been in, and my game is the best it's ever been."

“I'm sharp, I'm ready. If I'm allowed to play, which often is the problem these days — sometimes you get blown away. If I get my chances, I think I could be a handful for anybody.”